This report (Nelson 1982) was the first analysis of the availability of CO2 specifically for microalgal mass culture. There was, and still is, considerable interest in CO2 sources for EOR (enhanced oil recovery). Thus, a significant body of literature had developed in the preceding 5 years, particularly for the southwestern United States, where several small pipelines were built to deliver CO2 for EOR. One study even considered the production of CO2 from a power plant flue gas for such a purpose. The Argonne report concluded that there would be little extra available CO2 for microalgae production until the time for EOR had passed, about the year 2020. Of course, since then declining oil prices, and increasing interest in CO2 mitigation, have changed this situation. The report also concluded that flue gas sources would be a poor source for CO2 for the microalgae ponds, as power plants were not generally located in a suitable area for microalgae cultivation. The authors also concluded that the delivery of pure CO2 would be expensive, even after CO2 became available after the EOR era.

I Publications:

Nelson. (1982) “An Investigation of the availability of carbon dioxide for the production of microalgae lipids in the southwest.” Report to the Argonne National Laboratory, unpublished.